capturing, forever, the beauty of an ordinary day / by Carey

It has been three months now and I can still feel the utter disbelief I experienced that Sunday morning when I checked my email on my phone before church.  I rubbed my eyes.  I felt awake.  It felt real.  I was fairly certain I wasn't dreaming.  And yet, there was simply no way the email was true.

I showed Shawn.  I needed another person to verify that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.  A local photographer had emailed me asking if she could commission me to photograph her children in their home, just being them.  We went to this photographer, Tina, when I was pregnant with Little Buddy and she shot my treasured maternity photos.  Then she shot Nathan's newborn, 6 months, and then one year photo sessions.  The four books from those sessions are truly some of my most prized possessions.  I simply could not fathom that Tina would want me to shoot her own kids!  Honestly, just the thought of shooting her made my stomach instantly turn to a million butterflies.  But Shawn insisted that I do it.  I replied yes and a week or so later, I was shooting.

It wasn't my imagination.  It wasn't wishful thinking manifesting itself into a dream.  It was real.  She saw talent in my art.  She wanted me to come and capture the little details, the real things, about her children.  I  have never, ever, felt more honored.  I cannot express in words the validation, as an artist, that this has given me.  As people balk at the cost for my services... someone sees the value and feels I'm worth it.  Thank you, again, Tina.

One of the things I have always loved about Tina is how she makes you feel so at ease around her.  I detest being in front of the camera.  I am truly incredibly, incredibly uncomfortable being photographed, and despite that, she shot my family those four times and made me feel comfortable, at ease, and the resulting images made me feel beautiful.  Walking in the door to her home felt like walking into Pinterest.... but despite that potential intimidation, her magnetic personality pulled me in and set me at ease.

Today I'll share the images I took indoors.  Her twins were just so much fun.  I loved hanging out with them.  I loved how her girl is soooooooooooooooo much a mini Tina.  I loved her more shy, more humble, but mischievous giggling boy.  But more than anything, they encouraged me as a parent so much.  As I'm watching my two play together lately, I'd been wondering how long this would last.  But these two still wrestle, giggle and play, just like mine do.  I've got many more years of fun with my own to come!  And yet they were so very polite, mannerly, and well behaved.  Just blessings of children.

Lastly, before I get to the images, I wanted to share how fascinating it is, that even though my client here is a fellow photographer, still the images that were her favorites... weren't mine.  I've heard it said that the photographer's favorites are never the client's favorites... and I've seen it in nearly every single photo session I've conducted.  But it did surprise me that even with Tina, the ones that spoke most deeply to her heart as these kids' momma, weren't the ones I loved as an artist.  Of course her (way too large) gallery included only images that I loved and was emotionally connected to... but my very favorite favorites... weren't the ones she chose.  At the risk of redundancy, I just find that fascinating!




lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012

lifestyle photo session by Carey Pace 2012
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I shot these with my D90 Sigma 30mm f1.4